Anonymous Sheridan H.S. Student
Editor’s note: The Sheridan Student Column is brought to readers by Sheridan High School’s 10th grade English class, taught by Abby Williams. For this week’s column, the student’s name and image have been withheld at their request.
You may have read the title of this article and been confused. What is a CODA, you may ask? Well, CODA stands for Child/Children of Deaf Adult, and KODA stands for Kid of Deaf Adult. Some KODAs prefer to use a C over a K and vice-versa. The terms can be used interchangeably.
Most KODAs know sign language since their parent(s) is/are deaf, but some KODAs don’t. I am a KODA and my brother is as well. Our dad is deaf and sign language is our first language. My mom is hearing, knows sign, and works at the Indiana School for the Deaf. Even though I have one deaf parent, and not two, I am not any less of a CODA than someone with two deaf parents.
Last summer I went to KODA Camp Midwest. This camp is for kids aged 6 to 16 who have at least one deaf parent, and it is located in Wisconsin.
To be honest, I was not excited at all: Two weeks away from my friends, my phone, my pets, my parents, and worst of all, my bed. I was so nervous to go to camp, but I knew I would be okay since my brother was a camp counselor. I was in a cabin with seven other campers and two counselors. I knew a few of the counselors because they went to camp with my brother, and I had met them before.
The first night at camp was terrifying to me. I had only made three new friends who weren’t from Indiana, and I already thought some campers didn’t like me, especially Juju. Juju had neon pink hair and I thought it was so cool. I tried to talk to Juju and get to know her, but I was getting bad vibes. I assumed Juju didn’t like me and I didn’t really talk to her the first few days of camp. Long story short, KODA love brought us together, and now Juju and I are really good friends.
Eventually, I started talking to more people and sitting with different people each mealtime. I became friends with a counselor named Taylor and the whole younger cabin really liked me, so I usually hung out in their room when we had free time. Taylor was the lead counselor in the younger cabin, so it made perfect sense to be down there.
My favorite part about camp was being in that environment, hanging out with the people who complimented me and made me feel good. It was also really cool to have a special connection to everyone at camp. Taylor has a video of me and my camp BFF Lilo dancing and screaming and jumping around to the song “t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l” by WILLOW.
CODA camp was probably the best time of my life. Though I did not admit it at first, I truly did enjoy KODA camp.
Though very fun and very enjoyable, KODA camp did have its downsides.
First of all, morning calisthenics were the worst things I’ve ever experienced. You get woken up at 6:45 in the morning and get forced outside in the cold, in your pajamas. You have to sit in a circle in the middle of a parking lot and exercise. This did not last very long because the counselors didn’t want to wake up either.
Secondly, some of the campers were very rude and snobby. I did have problems with some campers who thought of themselves very highly. There were definitely cliques at camp and that made it difficult sometimes. There were the 16-year-olds who thought they were superior and deserved everything at hand.
Next, the food was decent most days, but every once in a while, there were some bad batches of food. Karen’s famous mac and Spam deserves a shoutout in this column because it slaps. I did enjoy mealtimes, as I had a lot of fun chatting with people from different states.
Every once in a while, someone would bring up different signs for different words. For example, people sign ketchup and cereal differently, as well as some other words. The most interesting thing I learned was that some people in Michigan sign purple differently.
Lastly, I did not enjoy some of the PE activities. There is a game called KODA ball, which I will not be explaining because it is super complex, which I did not enjoy. I think the worst PE activity we did was skin the snake and the blindfolded team games.
Overall, KODA camp was a really fun experience, and I will be returning this year for my last year as a camper. Next year I will apply to be a CIT and hopefully get the position. I made a lot of great friendships and learned a lot about other KODAs at camp. I’m especially thankful for all the staff who made it possible.